Wonders of the World
by Sundiel260
Summary: Young Dipper and Mabel Pines are out on their own, ready for an adventure. They go to the only place where it's said to have all types of Pokemon there. Hoping to find there calling there, they're in for a bit of a surprise when things become a little more than they can chew.
1. (A pair of kids went out into the world,

The mid-morning sun shined brightly in the sky, clear of clouds and perfect weather conditions to go out and enjoy the day away. The air held a faint scent of flowers, baked goods, sweet scents, and clear clean air.

People were out and about in the small town, busying with their to-do's and just enjoying the good weather. Which was okay with him since none of them would stop to take notice of him walking down the street with a bag full of items he bought almost all morning. And he _really_ didn't want someone to notice him, because if they did they would probably notice that his clothes were not in the best condition and was a little too dirty to be viewed as healthy looking.

He could just tell them that he'd been traveling for a while out in the woods and hadn't had time to concern over his basic needs, but then they might press on and ask more questions than he would like to answer. But luckily, no one seemed to want to press on his case. Or maybe it was because most of this town's residents were Pokémon Trainers from all around that it was normal for them to see people a little scruff up and dirty.

Whatever the reason, he was just glad that no one wanted to stop him for questions and wined up find out what was really going on.

"Okay, food, check. Water, check. Books, compass, and map, check. Alright, looks like things are staring off on a good-OUF!" He stumbled backwards, looking up to see a young male fall on his back. "Oh man! I'm so sorry! I didn't look where I was going! Are you okay?!"

He held out a hand, helping the stranger up on his feet. While doing so, he took notice of the stranger's features, most notably his clothes and wild electric blue hairdo that stood out from his dark skin. Short white jeans went down past his knees with three belts wrapped loosely around the hip. A ripped sleeveless yellow and black lighting pattern shirt with a Pokémon that looked like an orange mouse with a long black tail that ended in a thunder bolt, and thick grey rubber shoes with at least five or six straps on them.

A choker of gold with spikes poking out was wrapped around his neck, along with a small metal craft dangling underneath it. Goggles sat on top of his head with lightning bolts craved into the glass.

"No worries man. I wasn't looken' either." The stranger smiled, showing off his white teeth as he got up, folding his arms behind his head. "Man, I _really_ need to stop walken' while I'm thinken'. I keep runnen' inta stuff! But hey! Least it helps me clear my head!" He beamed, holding out one hand. "I'm Gregory by the way! Nice ta meat cha!"

He looked at the hand, unsure if he should shake it or not. The stranger, Gregory, might start asking questions, and, worse, he might accidentally spread out that information to ears he really didn't want hearing about. But, looking at Gregory's face, those big green eyes of his, he somehow didn't really seem the type that would do something like that. But he had to be careful about this. "… Uh… Dipper." He smiled, a little uneasy but still a smile, reaching out and shook Gregory's hand. "My name's Dipper."

"Cool name! I don't think I evah met someone with a cool name like that!"

"Oh, it's not my real name." He shrugged, tucking both his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I just go by it because…" He paused, suddenly realizing that he was getting too comfortable around Gregory that he was already giving too much information about himself. "Uh… listen, I have to go somewhere."

"Ain't ya gonna need some help picken' up your stuff first?" Gregory pointed out, looking down at the ground towards his feet.

Following the taller man's gaze, he almost had a heart attack. The bag he had been carrying had spilled over, spilling out its contents on the stone ground. "Ah jeez!" He exclaimed, hurriedly gathering the supplies he had spent all morning gathering.

"That's a lot of stuff ya got here." Gregory commented, bending down and picking up a can that was closest to his feet, looking it over. "What cha' be needen' all this stuff for? Ya goen' on a trip or somethen'?"

"N-no. It's just some supplies." He avoided looking at Gregory as he finished putting the last of the items back in the bag. "For… emergency cases."

Gregory nodded, handing the can back to Dipper. "Reasonable." He shrugged, standing back up. "So, where ya headen' to man? Ya need some help getten' around here since you're new to the Shallow Islands?"

His heart leapt in his throat, letting out a shrill squeak as he tumbled backwards in shock. "H-how did you know?!"

"Easy man." Gregory held up his hands. "No need ta overreact. It's easy ta spot new people here. First been' your clothes." He gestured to his green hat that sat lopsided on his head, his white long sleeved shirt that had more tears than he could count and his jeans with holes in them to his shoes that were on their last legs. "You obviously hadn't gotten them form anywhere here on the island. They're too dirty 'nd torn 'nd not many shops sell that type of fabric ya wearen'. Second is that I know just 'bout everybody here on the island. Lived here long enough ta remember faces 'nd names." He tapped the side of his head, smiling with a wink.

Dipper's heart was pounding against his chest, thundering so fast it was painful and loud. His whole body was trembling, staring up at Gregory in mixed horror and fear.

"… You okay man?"

"I… I… I-I…" His voice was trembling, and he was 99.9% certain that his hands were getting moist from his sweat.

"It's nothen' to be scared 'bout man." Gregory took a tentative step forward. "Why don't you 'nd me—"

"THANKSBUTNOTHANKSGOTTOGOBYE!" He shouted, grabbing the bag and hightailing it out of there.

"H-hey! Wait!" He heard Gregory shout, but he kept running, not looking back as he maneuvered through the crowds of people and Pokémon and kept running till he rounded a building corner and ducked into an alleyway, slamming his back against the brick wall as he tried to catch his breath. Once his heart rate went back to normal, he peeked out from behind the building. Sighing in relief, he slumped against the building, shaking his head.

It was a close call.

Too close.

He certain that his cover would have been blown right then and there if he stayed with Gregory any longer. Not to mention what might have happened if…

No. He wasn't going to think like that. He didn't give enough information about himself. He was still in the clear zone. Gregory was going to be a problem though. He'd have to be careful and keep an eye out in case they ran into each other again.

Getting back up on his feet, he scanned the area to make sure the coast was clear. Once he deemed it was safe enough, he headed out.

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Staying at an old hotel room was not an ideal place to stay in her mind, but it cost less than the more decent hotels and had less people about that cheeked into the place. Plus, her brother had picked it out, deeming it safe for them to stay while they made a plan of action.

She didn't mind it all too much once she figured out that the hotel had a swing set and some pretty good TV channels she could watch.

Glancing at the clock hung on the wall, she frowned. Her brother had left early in the morning to go get supplies and already it was getting close to noon. That meant either two things. One, he was going over the things they needed and thinking that they needed something else while shopping or number two… he got caught.

She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. "Think positive Mabel." She mumbled to herself. "Dipper's not so easy to catch. He'll be back soon. You know he will."

She shifted her focus back on the TV screen, trying to ignore the pit in her stomach that started to grow in her as the hours ticked by with no brother in sight. Dipper was smart. Dipper knew how to avoid getting caught out on the street. He got them this far with just a few hiccups in the plan but they still managed to get here. He could handle being out on his own for a bit…

Glancing at the clock to the door, her mind was made up. She would give him a half hour before she would go looking for him.

Just as she turned her eyes back on the small screen, the door opened with her brother carrying a bag walking through before shutting the door behind himself, smiling apologetically. "Sorry for the wait Mabel. Some of the items were harder to find than I thought."

Relief flooded her body, but her face didn't agree with it as she shot her brother an angry look. Though, she was sure that there was no real heat to it. "You big dummy! I was worried that you got caught or worse!"

Dipper rolled his eyes as he went over to the far corner of the room where the only table sat against the corner, placing the bag on top. "Pfft. Like I could get caught that easily Mabel. Anyway, I got some food for us to eat while we make up a new plan." He dug through the bag, pulling out bread and a jar filled with jam in it.

A distinctive grumbling emanated from Mabel's stomach. "Heh, nice timing bro." She jumped off the bed, helping her brother make lunch for the both of them.

"Okay, from what I could gather on some information, I might have found a simple yet efficient plan for us." Dipper reached into the bag, pulling out a folded paper that he proceeded to unfold and layout on the bed with both siblings sitting on one side opposite form each other. "As we know, the Shallow Islands in by far the largest known island in the world, and for being the only place where every single Pokémon in the world can be found."

He pointed to small section on the map, right at where the land was at the borderline of the sea. "We arrived here exactly ninety six hours ago on the ship we stowed away on, and now we're currently staying here at the hotel."

"Is this place really okay enough to be considered a hotel?" She glanced about the room, munching on her PB and J with gummy worms and glitter sandwich.

"Yeah. It is Mabel." Dipper huffed, taking a bit out of his own sandwich. "Mis mace is mety mep."

"Huh?"

"I said this place is pretty cheap." Dipper repeated after swallowing. "And an excellent spot to find out where to get registrations. Apparently, this place is a good rest stop for Pokémon trainers."

"So all we have to do is ask a trainer where to get registrations and boom! Instant twin Pokémon trainers!"

"Right! But remember. We still have to keep a low profile. We don't want anyone getting to much information about us or anything major."

"Yeah, yeah." She stuck out her tongue. "I get it. No talking to strangers unless we can get any good info out of them."

"I'm serious Mabel! If anyone found out anything about us, that could lead to total disaster! And all this planning, all the effort we put into everything, it'll all be for nothing. We can't go back to the life we were in. Not when we made it this far. If we go back now…"

They shuddered.

"Okay." She wrapped her arms around herself. "You make a good point there."

"We just need to be careful. That's all there is to it." Dipper folded the map up, hopping off the bed, reaching down underneath and pulling out an old two strap travel backpack and placing the map inside. "After that, things should be okay. We would still need to keep a low on our profile but other than that we should be good."

"Then what are we waiting for? An invitation?" She jumped off the bed, making her way to the door.

"Wait!"

Her hands paused just on the door handle, looking back at her brother in a confused glance.

"Mabel, we're the only ones checked into this hotel right now. There not a single trainer here that we can ask."

"… oh… okay." She went back to the bed, flopping backwards onto the soft mattress. "So, we just have to wait till some checks in?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Phooey."

"Hey, it's not all that bad. I mean, we can plan on what we can do once we're registered while we wait."

She glanced at her brother. "What do you plan on doing once you get registered?"

Dipper shrugged, climbing back up on the bed after hiding the bag away. "I don't really know. Maybe I'll know somewhere along the way. What about you?"

"Same deal I guess." Mabel sat up, snatching up the remote. "Maybe the TV has some ideas for us."

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"Aw man, can't believe I lost him. 'Nd he was such a cool man too." Gregory sighed, slumping down in his booth. The booth in question belong to a small restaurant that sat at one of the small town's corners. The rush hour had already passed, so there were plenty of seats to choose from. Preferably, he chose the more secluded area of the old place in the back where not many people would go. "Man, can't believe how I lost track of him that quickly. 'Nd ta think, I'm usually the best at runnen' after people. Though, that man was sure fast. 'Nd small. Runnen' after someone small as him in big crowds is hard man."

Sighing, he stretched his arms, relaxing into his seat more. "Alright G, no use a dwellen' on it. Time ta look over the facts." His face went serious, placing both arms crossed on the table. "From what you were told, reports of two small individuals were seen sneaken' out of the ship that ported four days ago, both looken' to be small children."

"Reports say that the two looked similar in facial features, meanen' that they might be related. Noted ta be… yay-high, brown hair, dirty clothes, male 'nd female, 'nd no parents reported any child of theirs missen'. So in conclusion, both children were stowed away hidden in the ship, where exactly is still unknown, but it's certain that they managed ta evade getten' caught 'nd now they're somewhere here on the island."

Gregory groaned, running a hand through his wild mane. "So much for trailen' them down without getten' caught. Would have been easy ta earn their trust 'nd find out what ta do with them then. Returen' them ta their parents seemed like a good option, buuuut now that I think of it, kids don't usually run away looken' all rattled 'nd dirty."

He shook his head. "Somethen' bigger is goen' on here. Somethen' not too good 'nd I need ta find out what. But that's gona be hard since Dipper got real rattled by the end of our conversation. It's not gona be easy ta get his trust back. I'm obviously outta question. I need someone who's good with people. Someone who can go under cover 'nd gain trust easy."

"… 'Nd I just might know who ta call…"


	2. and ran into a guardian of secrets,

_Shallow Islands_

 _Known to be the only known place where every recorded Pokémon can be found. Scientists and historians have studied this wondrous place for years, not fully understanding how or why this island has become as it is. Many speculate that the island is on a specific point in the equator where the climate has made it suitable for all and every type of Pokémon to thrive here._

 _There is no explanation to how, or why this is the only known place where Pokémon of all types can be found as scientists have been studying this climate for years and still have found no solid evidence or reasoning._

"What'cha got there bro?"

"Just reading up on some information of the Shallow Island." Dipper shifted, feeling his sister's weight shifting on her side of the bed and over to his. "If we're going to stay here, then we need as much information we can get from this place."

"Don't we already know plenty about this place?"

"You can never be too careful with what you know Mabel. Having information about this place can help us get along here and blend in."

"Yeah, guess you're right." The bed bounced a bit as Mabel flopped backwards. She quickly sat up again with a frown. "Speaking of blending in, do you think we should get some new clothes?"

A frown came on Dipper's face, looking up from the book he had obtained while shopping to look at their attire. While his clothes were more on the homeless looking side, Mabel's clothes were almost in the same condition. Though it was obvious that her clothes were more fit and cleaner than his were.

Still, he had to silently agree that they would need new clothes soon. After his run in with Gregory, he was now certain that they would stand out while they wore what they had. "New clothes would be a good way to blend in more… buuuut."

"But nothing!" Mabel jumped up, throwing her arms up in the air. "These clothes are a BIIIIIG no no! We've got to get ourselves some fresher cleaner clothes!"

"We don't have the money for it though."

Mabel's smile slowly faded from her face. "I spent the majority of the money we had to get the supplies we need. Heck, when I saw what the prices were for clothes, there wouldn't have been anything left to buy what we need." His gut twisted as his sister's smile vanished as he explained their situation.

"… Oh… that… is a problem." Mabel slumped down beside her brother.

"I'm sorry Mabel." He touched Mabel's shoulder. "But with what we had, clothes just weren't that important at the moment for what we need to survive."

"Do we still have enough to stay here?"

"Yeah, I think for just one more day though." Dipper sighed. "After that, I don't know what we'll do."

"Well." Mabel perked up a bit. "Maybe we can try asking someone where we can register to become trainers. There's still a possibility for that."

"Mabel, I told you already that there aren't any trainers booked in for the night here."

"Well, why don't we try the town then? I'm sure there's bound to be plenty of trainers there."

"We're trying to keep a _low profile_ , remember?"

"Dipper, if we don't start now, tomorrow is our last day and we still don't have a plan on what to do then! We need to take the chance we can get or otherwise we'll never get far!"

Dipper bit the inside of his cheek. Mabel did have a good point there. But there was also the high risk of getting caught if they asked around too much. However, the little money they had left would become their downfall. If they were going to become Pokémon trainers, they _need_ to know where to register. After that, they would be well on their way and then maybe they would have a plan on what to do next.

"… Okay, fine. We'll go and ask around town. BUT, we need to ask only one or two trainers. We still need to lay low and NOT spread attention to us. Got it?"

"Boop!" Mabel smiled, giving her brother the thumbs up on both of her hands.

"Alright." Dipper slipped off the bed, hiding the book underneath it. "Just stay close to me. We never know what could happen when we're out there."

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Not many people were out walking about by the time they made it to the small town. The busy hour of the day had passed and now there were hardly anyone out and about. Dipper felt that this was an okay ideal. Less people meant that there were less chances of getting noticed and wind up in deep hot water. Still, he made sure to keep a look out for any signs of Gregory. He was the **last** person he wanted to run into right now.

Mabel on the other hand was trying to find the perfect person they needed to ask for information, and it wasn't helping that there wasn't a lot of people out and about who looked like they were trainers. Being such a small town, she was sure that there would be someone with a Pokémon or two, but it seemed that this town was vacant of any Pokémon. There wasn't even a small Pokémon running around.

Any Pokémon that they did see were either wild, TV, or on a cover of a magazine. But there wasn't a trainer in sight. Which meant that there was no one who they could turn to for information.

"There doesn't seem to be any trainers around." Mabel pointed out once they reached the town center.

"No. There isn't." Dipper agreed, looking around with a frown on his face. "Actually, I don't remember seeing _any_ trainers the moment we got here. Or any Pokémon as a matter of fact. For an island that's supposedly filled with every single Pokémon around the world, I don't really see any Pokémon around here."

"Maybe they're at another part of the island?"

Dipper shrugged. From what he could see around them, there wasn't a single Pokémon in sight. Which meant that there wasn't a chance for them to find out where to register as trainers. And that meant they would have to stay at the hotel one more night.

And then the last of their money would be gone.

And then they would be in big trouble.

A deep sigh left his mouth. So much for a grand adventure.

Now what could they do? A reasonable option would be to head back to the hotel and think up of a new plan, and maybe find a way to earn some money. But if they spent one more night there, then all their money would be gone. If they tried to stay out here longer to find a trainer, then there was no doubt that someone would start to notice the condition they were in and that would lead to even BIGGER problems.

"Oh man, we're in deep water Mabel." He clutched his head in worry as different scenarios of their predicament kept running through his head. "I don't know what we can do at this point."

Mabel frowned. "There gotta be SOMETHING we can do! We got this far!"

"But we're in a bad situation right now. And it's only getting worse by the second we stay here! We're low on money. We have NO clue to what we're doing. Heck. We didn't even know what we would do the moment we got here! Face it Mabel. There's no hope for us."

Mabel stood silently. She had never seen her brother this worried before. Not even when they were planning to get here. A whole month of planning to get where they are now. Even when they snuck aboard the ship, when they left in the cover of the night, she NEVER seen him so worked up and hopeless.

Well, she was just going to have to change that.

"Hey, come on bro. We still have a chance at this. We just need to keep trying! We made it this far right?"

"Yeah, but Mabel—"

"So we keep going!" Mabel walked forwards, pumping her arms in the air as she moved. "We can't just give up yet! We still have plenty of time to come up with something."

"Mabel, did you not hear what I just—"

She twisted around, continuing her uncharted path but now facing her brother. "I heard you Dip-Dop! But we CAN'T give up yet!"

"Mabel."

"I mean, this is what we worked for!"

"Mabel."

"And sure we've ran into a few snags here and there."

" _Mabel._ "

"But we've overcame those obstacles! And what's an adventure without an obstacle or two—"

" _MABEL STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO RUN INTO—!_ "

The warning came too late. Before she knew it, Mabel's back had collided with something solid, sending her off balance and face first to the ground.

"Mabel!" Dipper cried in alarm, running over to his sister. "You okay?" He asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Mabel, you got to be more careful. Being reckless like that could whined you up in big—"

" _You._ "

Both siblings froze.

" _You._ "

They turned to the sound of the voice. Standing behind Mabel was a tall woman. Very tall. And slim too. Her skin gave the impression that she was just out of a tanning booth, and for a split second, both twins thought she had a big attraction to pink as most of her clothes where in different dark shades of the color. Even her short shoulder length hair was dyed to a deep pink.

Clutched in her left hand was a Styrofoam cup, which was shaking and bending in her grip. And if Dipper had to guess from the contents splattered on her flame patterned shirt, it was easy to say that the cup was empty of any sort of drink the lady was having.

" _You._ "

The twins flinched. The ice in the woman's voice was clear. Her form was shaking and her hands were tightening into fists, so much so that the cup in her one hand was crushed.

" _Do. You. Even. Realize._ " Her voice was slow, looking down at them with the only eye visible through her bangs, full of fire that felt like it was burning through them. " _How much. This shirt. Cost. To have it. Made?!_ "

They took a step back, sensing that the woman's rage was only escalating as she spoke. The woman however took an advancing step.

" _I. Had to pay. A_ _ **fortune**_ _to get these clothes in perfect condition! And_ _ **YOU!**_ " She pointed a finger at Mabel venomously. " _Just ruined_ _ **six months**_ _of waiting!_ _ **Six months of perfect silk ruined by your idiocy!**_ "

Mabel backed away even more, hiding behind her brother as her eyes started to get wet. "I'm sorry."

" ** _Sorry doesn't fix my clothes you brat!_** "

"Hey!" Dipper to offense to that, stepping in front of his sister. "Don't talk to her that way! It was just an accident! She didn't mean any harm!"

" ** _NO HARM?!_** " The woman roared, sending both twins toppling backwards. " ** _THERE'S PLENTY OF HARM DONE HERE BOY! YOU AND YOUR SISTER ARE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!_** " She screamed, grabbing a round object off of her belt. " ** _GO!_** **_URSARING!_** " She threw the object in the air.

They watched as the object went up high into the open, their eyes widening as it split open and a stream of bright silvery light come out and landed in front of them. The light contrasted and grew in size when it burst and there, right before them, was a large brown, **angry** , bear Pokémon. It growled as it looked down on the cowering twin.

" ** _Ursaring! Use Slash on these twerps!_** "

The Pokémon roared as the large claws at the end of its arm glowed, raising it above its head and swinging it down towards the petrified siblings. They shut their eyes, holding each other close as they waited for the pain to come down upon them.

…

…

…

…

Slowly, they opened their eyes. There was no pain. No nothing. They looked up in confusion, letting out shocked gasps as they found their answer.

Standing above them holding the Ursaring's attack in a tight grip was _another_ Pokémon. One that was mostly blue, humanoid, with a sharp snout of a dog and a pale yellow chest all the way down to its hips. Its eyes were locked with the Ursaring's, burning deep into the bigger Pokémon's eyes.

"Ya know."

Both twins were broken from their trance of shock on the Pokémon, looking behind them to the owner of the voice.

"Battles with your Pokémon are meant fer _Pokémon_ battles. Not on a pair of kids."

Standing behind the Pines twins was a man. An old man. Yet he stood with his back straight and his shoulders squared, glaring at the woman through his glasses.

" ** _Back off old man! These brats ruined my new clothes! They need to_** **pay** ** _for what they've done!_** "

The man tilted his head, not letting up his glare as one of his brow went up slightly. "Clothes? I thought it was some unlucky scraps of cloth you were wearin'."

" ** _WHAT WAS THAT?!_** "

The man chuckled, rubbing his jaw. "Na. Scrapes of clothin' like that are waaay better lookin' that what you have. In fact, it looks more like garbage thrown together now that I look at it."

" **G** ** _-GARBAGE?!_** **GARBAGE?!** "

"Ya got a problem with that sweet cheeks?"

The woman shook with unbinding fury, letting out a roar of uncontained rage. The man didn't budge, looking at the furry bent woman with an impassive face.

" ** _URSARING! USE SHADOW CLAW!_** "

Her Ursaring roared, raising up its other paw that was surrounded by a black shadowy aura. Before it could swing it down however, the blue Pokémon took action, bringing up one of its legs up and kicking the large Pokémon in the gut, sending it stumbling backwards.

The man stepped around the twins, standing in front of them. "If ya want a fight, _I'll_ give ya one."

" ** _BRING IT ON YOU OLD BAG OF BONES! I'LL BEAT YOU HARD INTO THE GROUND THERE'LL BE NOTHING LEFT OF YOU BEHIND!_** " The woman turned her cold hard glare on the pair. "And they're NEXT."

"… Brin' it."

In a blink of an eye, the blue Pokémon shot forward, running at such speed that it took longer for both twins to realize that it was gone and right in front of the Ursaring, whacking it across its face with its leg.

" **Ursaring, use Slash!** "

The Pokémon complied to its master's wishes. But as it moved to strike its opponent, they were gone just as it swung down its attack, only to appear again and strike it.

The battle went on. The woman's Ursaring tried to land a hit on the older man's Pokémon, but the attacks never landed a hit as the smaller Pokémon proved to be fast, too fast for the bigger Pokémon to catch up and land a hit on it. Each time the Ursaring missed, the woman became even angrier, screaming at the top of her lungs and shouting at the man, the twins, and even at her own Pokémon. With all her loud commotion, it was drawing in a small crowd of people, who had mixed feelings, watching as the battle went on between the two trainers.

As the battle went on, the twins sat in silence, watching the battle intently. But only one of them watched with fixed awe as the other tore their gaze away from the battle to their savior. Mabel stared at him, looking over the mysterious man with mixed feelings. Feelings such as astonishment, curiosity, wariness, and gratitude.

She was astonished when the man suddenly appeared, stepping in to save them from the woman's rage that she had accidentally caused to explode. Curious to where he came from, why he was saving them, and who exactly he was. But she was also being wary of him as she didn't know to the full extent as to why a total stranger came to their rescue. Maybe it was because they were small kids? Maybe because they didn't have any of their own Pokémon to help them? She didn't know, but she was certain that she and her brother were deeply grateful that he did. Otherwise they would have been in great pain.

Or worse.

Dipper on the other hand, was too entranced by the battle before him.

All his life, as far back as he could remember, he had never seen a real battle before. He read books, heard about how battles went out, even watching one or two on screen. But he never truly saw a _real_ battle before up until now. A real battle. A truly for real battle. His heart took a stuttering beat. Eyes fixed solely on the fighting pair. One of strength and power, and the other of speed and agility.

" ** _THIS IS RIDICULOUS!_** " The woman shouted as her Pokémon stumbled backwards from the punch it received from its opponent. " ** _Why haven't you landed a single hit on them Ursaring?! You're supposed to be WINNING this battle! Not losing to an old man and his DOG! And YOU! Why haven't you given your Pokémon a single command to attack?!_** "

"Hey, there's plenty of ways ta say a command ta your partner. Even without sayin' it." The man grinned as he winked, shooting the woman a two fingered salute. "But ya know." His grin faded away, frowning as he turned his eyes hard on her. "I think this battle's gone long enough already."

As if sensing its master's will, the blue Pokémon jumped back away from the Ursaring.

"HA! Suddenly realizing that you can't win?"

"Can't win? Lady, do ya even see your partner right now?" The man pointed to the Pokémon. The Ursaring was struggling to stay up right, panting in heavy breaths of air. "Your fella is jus' 'bout ready ta fall over."

" **THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE TIRING IT OUT YOU FOOL! NOW KEEP YOUR POKEMON STILL SO MY URSARING CAN SMASH IT!** "

"… Yeeeah… I don't think so." The man turned his eyes to his partner. "All right, bud." He grinned as the Pokémon glance at him. "Let's get this over with already, yeah?"

The Pokémon snorted, looking back at its opponent. With quick reflexes, it shot forward. Just as it was in front of the Ursaring, it quickly jumped up high into the air. Everyone gazed up at the Pokémon as hovered in midair, slapping its paws together. The air cracked and buzz as it slowly moved its paws apart. In-between its paws, a growing orb of blue light expanded, cracking and swirling with sheer energy.

"Annnnnnnnnn'." The man smiled, pointing out his index finger and his thumb up. "Bingo."

The Pokémon shot its arms forward, sending the sphere of light off at high speeds that the Ursaring had no time to dodge it and was hit dead center on the chest where the sphere exploded with a loud bang, kicking up smoke.

" ** _URSARING!_** "

The cloud of smoke cleared, revealing the bear flat on its back, eyes swirling.

" ** _NNNNOOOOOOOOO! GET UP! GET UP URSARING!_** "

The man shook his head, watching as the woman tried to scream her Pokémon awake. Shifting his focus away from her, he turned it instead to the pair of small kids behind him, who were staring up at in with wide eyes. "You kids alright?"

Numbly, they nodded. There were no words to say as they continued to stare up at the mysterious man who had just saved them.

" ** _THIS ISN'T OVER!_** "

The trio tore their eyes away from each other back on the woman. " **YOU MAY HAVE BEATEN MY URSARING, BUT YOU HAVEN'T WON YET! I'M JUST GETTING STARTED AND I WON'T STOP TILL ALL THREE OF YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BAD FORGOTTEN MEMORY!** "

"Yeah, brin' it hot head." The man snorted. "My Lucario's still has plenty of fight left in 'im." His Pokémon, now identified as Lucario, let out a low growl, getting ready to fight once again.

" **Oh ho ho.** " The woman made a reach for her belt. " ** _YOU ASKED FOR IT!_** " Before she made another move however, a loud continuous whining sound stopped her.

"HALT!" Everyone turned to the voice as three people wearing blue uniforms with badges were running towards them. "YOU TWO ARE UNDER AREST!"

"Wa-oh. Looks like they caught on bud." The man said, his Lucario nodded in agreement. "Guess we better—" He quickly turned, scooping both twin in his arms. "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" He screamed, bolting from the battle scene with his Pokémon not far behind him.

Both twins were startled by the sudden action, but clung tight to the man's shirt. They didn't say it out loud, but they felt somewhat safe in the man's thick arms as he ran away from the cops.

The man glanced behind himself, checking to make sure that he was losing the one cop that chased after them, and growled lowly when they were still hot on their tail.

"Um… excuse me?" The man looked down at his arms, locking eyes with the girl. "Not to be rude or anything, but who are you? And why are you running from the police?"

"And why are you dragging us along?" The male of the pair chimed in.

The man blinked. "… Uh, I'll explain later. Right now, we need ta lose this guy." The man turned to his Lucario. "Alright bud, do your thing!"

His Lucario nodded, running ahead of them before jumping high in the air, twisting around and kicking out one leg as it came back down on the ground. Once it landed, the ground sudden started to shake. It was shaking so much that the officer chasing them lost his footing on the uneasy ground, giving the foursome the chance to make their escape.

The man kept running, taking sharp turns at building corners and running into the nearest alley when he was certain that they were far enough away from the law.

He sighed in relief, setting the twins down on the ground, but then suddenly let out a pained groan as he stood back up rubbing his back. "Man you kids are heavy." He half joked.

Dipper and Mabel said nothing as the man slowly got up. Their minds were still comprehending what had just happened not too long ago and were still trying to make sense of their recent current position.

"Uh, yeah. Hi again, Mabel here um, so." Mabel tried to smile sweetly as the man turned his focus on her. "I just notice that, WHAT THE GREAT GLITTER STICKS JUST HAPPENED BACK THERE?!"

Both males and Pokémon jumped at the sudden volume.

"You! You just, WHAP! And the lady was all, WRRRAAAAA! A-And then there was WOOOOOOOOP! And we were, HUUH?! And then, WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"… English?"

"Uh, what she means is, we're grateful that you helped us out of that tight situation back there." Dipper quickly stepped in, suddenly realizing the new situation they were in. "We _really_ appreciated that you saved us from the psycho lady. But, we really should be going on home." He grabbed Mabel's hand, heading out the alley.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." The man stepped in their way, blocking their only means of escape. "An' where do you two think yer goin'?"

"Uh."

"Home?"

"Um hm." The man rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at them. "Yeah, an' jus' _where_ exactly is home?"

"Why do _you_ want to know?" Dipper countered, getting in front of his sister.

"Cause I can tell ya ain't got one."

Both twins froze. "Y-yes we do."

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"It's… um… it's…"

"It's in another village?"

"Which one?"

"Uh… well."

"A far away one?"

"… Ya both ain't from this island are ya?"

"… no…" They sighed in union, dropping their heads to their chests.

"Figured." The man knelled down to their eye level, locking eye contact with them. "It's easy ta tell by your clothes an' you both havin' no knowledge of the island."

"… do we really stand out that much?" Mabel asked, looking down at herself.

"Like Houndoom in a flock of Mareep."

"But, but nobody else seemed to notice." Dipper pointed out.

"That's 'cause the people in this town are too polite ta brin' it up. You two ain't the first ta come here like this. People come here often hopin' ta get their lives back under control here. So, basically, ya would have been taken ta the station sooner or later. Usually they wouldn't really mind, but since you're a pair of kids, you're gonna draw in attention ta yerselves."

They both stood in silence as they process this new information. "So." Mabel glanced to her twin as Dipper looked at her. "What you're saying, is that—"

"One way or another, you two knuckleheads wouldn't have made it past this small town. Yeah."

This information wasn't taken lightly for the twins. Their spirits were crushed as their dream, their one hope, went out and died.

"Are you going to take us to the police now?" Mabel asked quietly, feeling her brother put a hand on her shoulder for some reassurance.

"No."

The bluntness of the answer caught them off guard, looking up at the man in complete surprise.

"What?"

"Ya heard me." The man snorted, standing back up. "I ain't turnin' you in."

"But… But We're Runaways!" Dipper shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Aren't you _suppose_ to hand us over to the police or something?"

"Look, kid, after what happened back there, do you really think I jus' walk up ta the station jus' ta get arrested? Yeah, not happenin'. 'Sides, I don't think I can show my face 'round here fer a while anyway." The man glanced out of the alleyway.

"Why not?" Mabel tilted her head.

"Ya wonder why there's no Pokémon out an' 'bout here?"

The siblings glanced at each other.

"Kinda."

"A little bit."

"Well, you two don't know it, but there was some incident 'bout ten days ago. Some big fight or some accident happened involvin' some group of people doin' bad things. The island is on high alert an' the people been advised not ta have any battles in any of the villages."

"Why?"

"Don't know. Safety reasons I guess." The man shrugged, turning back to the twins. "Anyway, from what I hear, it ain't that safe fer you two ta be out on yer own. An' after what happened today, I think it's safe ta say that you don't have any means of protecting yerselves either."

"… What are you suggesting?"

"… I'm sayin' that you two obviously need someone ta look out for you."

"WHAT?!" Dipper and Mabel shouted in union, both for different reasons.

"NO!"

"Yes!"

Both siblings turned to each other in surprise, not expecting such a different answer from the other.

"Uh, heh heh. Can you give us a moment?" Mabel tugged her brother's arm, leading them further into the alley.

"Mabel! What are you thinking?! We can't trust him!" Dipper half scream half whispered once they were at a comfortable distance from the man. "He's a total stranger!"

"But Dipper, he _just_ saved us from that lady!" Mabel shot back in the same volume as her brother. "He can't be all that bad!"

"He could be acting. Have you thought about that? It could all be a trick or something!"

"But would he be telling us any of this stuff if it was?"

"It could be a part of his plan to get us to lower our guard Mabel. He's just waiting for the right moment to nab us!"

"… Our guard was down at the battle. He had us in his arms right after. If he was really trying to kidnap us, why would he let us go the moment he stopped running?"

"…" Dipper closed his mouth. He had to give her credit. That was a fair point. If the man really was trying to capture them, the situation would be completely different right now. "Okay, fair point. But that doesn't mean we can just trust him right off the bat just because he saved us this one time."

"Dipper, if the situation was different, do you really think that… Hey! Mister! What's your name again?"

The man and his Lucario looked away from each other, blinking in surprise that they had just be acknowledged. "Uh, my name's Stan."

"Right! Got it!" Mabel flashed them a thumbs up before turning back to her brother. "If Stan really wanted to nab us, than he would have done it long before the battle. I mean, did you _see_ how fast his… Po… ké… mon… was…" Her eyes slowly got bigger.

"Mabel?"

"YOU'RE A POKEMON TRAINER!" She suddenly shouted, whipping around to face the two.

Stan jumped, startled as Mabel ran up to him and beamed. "OH MY GOSH! I just realized! Stan, you're a trainer! A _real_ trainer!"

Stan blinked, startled and confused by Mabel's antics. "Uh, yeah. What 'bout it?"

"Mabel!"

"Dipper! Stan's a TRAINER! A trainer!" Mabel grabbed her brother be the shoulders, shaking him as she yelled out in excitement.

"Whoa, easy there kiddo! You're stranglin' 'im." Stan grabbed Mabel, pulling her away from her dizzy eyed brother. "Now what's this all 'bout me bein' a trainer exactly?"

"Everything! You're the answer to all our problems!" Mabel proclaimed, putting her small hands on Stan's chest.

"What problem?"

" _You_ can tell us where we can register as Pokémon trainers!" She proclaimed, making her brother's eyes widen as in realization of his sister's words.

"Hey, yeah!" He come over, now filled with vigorous energy at their new insight of luck. "I-I can't believe I didn't notice that before!"

"Okay, can someone tell me what's goin' on here?"

"Stan, you're a trainer, right?"

Stan snorted. "Does the Lucario next ta me not say enough?" He nodded his head towards the blue Pokémon standing beside him.

That answer only boosted Dipper's confidence. "Then, you know where people can register to be trainers for Pokémon right?"

"… register… ta be trainers? What's that suppose ta mean?"

Dipper's smile slowly faded. "You know. To become trainers. And travel around and stuff."

"Never heard of anythin' like that 'fore."

Dipper shared a look with his sister, both in shock and disappointment.

"Last I heard, anyone can be trainers. But I've never heard anythin' 'bout _registerin'_ ta be one." Stan shrugged, earning looks of surprise from the young pair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?" Mabel stepped back, looking between Stan and his Pokémon. "You… you don't have to register—"

"To be a trainer?"

"Nope. I don't know where you two heard such a thin'. An' basically? I don't really care ta know. But if you both want ta be trainers, heh, nobody's stoppin' ya."

The twins turned and shared big smiles. Their hearts pounded in mixed joy and unbelieving excitement. It was just too good to be true, and yet here Stan stood before them saying otherwise.

"Buuuuuut."

They looked up at the older man, casting him a confused look as he grinned down at them, rubbing his stubble jaw.

"If you two want ta be trainers, I'm thinkin' that ya need a new set of clothes ta wear."

"… W-what's wrong with what we have on?" Dipper was getting an uneasy feeling as Stan continued to grin at them. "We look—"

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"GREAT!"

Mabel twirled, looking at herself in the mirror with the new clothes she was currently wearing. "This is perfect! It's just the look that screams out 'HERE COMES MABEL!'." She giggled, spinning around in her new shoes and contemplated her new look. Gone was the ratty, dirty old shirt and in place was a brand new, cleaner shirt that was blue as the bright sky. The baggy torn pants were gone as well, and white keen long shorts were there. And the best part was that these had pockets in them. A violet hairband sat sung on her head, keeping her hair back to show more of her face off.

"What'da think bro-bro?" She turned to face her brother. He too was wearing much better suited clothes, after much arguing and unwanted compliment at his end. One could hardly tell that moments ago, he was wearing clothes that could scream out hobo, and now he wore a reddish orange short sleeved shirt that was covered under a navy blue hooded vest and grey shorts with black sneakers. His old hat remained on his head however. No matter how much she had tried, Dipper clung to the hat like a lifeline.

"You look great Mabel." And he had to admit, she didn't stick out as much anymore and she was generally happy being out of those old clothes. And so was he. He hadn't at first enjoyed Stan's idea of getting them new clothes since they had only just met the guy. But Mabel had persisted, agreeing with the idea fully till he finally gave in and agreed.

"Found everythin' ya need?" Stan came up, holding a plastic bag filled with clothes.

"Yep! Mabel has decreed that these new clothes are the best she's ever had!"

"Heh! I like this girl." Stan grinned, pointing at Mabel as she continued spinning. "So, what's your plan now?"

"Well, the plan was to find out how to register to be trainers and find out along there." Dipper admitted, earning a look from Stan.

"You two have no idea what your doin'?"

Dipper shook his head. "No. We really don't have a plan. We had one to get here but now…"

"…" Stan sighed, lugging the bag over his shoulder. "If ya want, I have some business in another village. Maybe, I don't know, you an' your sister can find out what ta do along the way?"

"… We'll think about it."

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" ** _AND WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT BRAT, HER BROTHER, AND THE OLD WINDBAG ESCAPED!_** " The woman from before roared into the device she held, growling in frustration. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed deeply. "I. Spent. A fortune on these clothes. A _fortune_. And this… **_high wired airheaded brat!_** Ruined it!"

" _…_ "

"No. I didn't get any of their names. I can tell you what they look like. I'll never forget **their** faces anytime soon."

" _…_ "

"Na, I wouldn't worry about them too much. The kids didn't have any Pokémon on them. And the old guy… well. Let's not worry about them just yet. The boss won't need to know about this one fluke. I'm sure they won't be any trouble the next time I see 'em."

" _…_ "

" **I told you.** The boss DOESN'T need to KNOW. This one little bump in the road? This will do nothing for what the boss has planned. "

" _…_ "

"Yeah, I'm heading there now. Can't say I can show my face around that village for a while after today. I got what I needed from there and aside from some minor ** _inconveniences_** , things are going smoothly."

" _…_ "

"Just make sure things are good on your side. After what happened last time, we don't want any more suspicion on our tracks as it is right now."

" _…_ "

"I Don't Care! Just DO your JOB! Over and Out." Snapping the device shut, the woman sighed. "Why did the boss pair me up with a bunch of idiots?"

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1 6-18-9-5-14-4-19 19-13-9-12-5 9-19 1 23-1-18-13 23-1-25 20-15 20-8-5 8-5-1-18-20.

1 19-20-18-1-14-7-5-18-19 19-13-9-12-5 9-19 1 23-1-25 20-15 2-21-9-12-4 23-1-12-12-19 1-18-15-21-14-4 9-20.

1 4-1-18-11 19-8-1-4-15-23 3-15-22-5-18-19 1-12-12 19-5-3-18-5-20-19 1-14-4 12-9-5-19.


End file.
